Two photos, one of a new chair in Hong Kong yet to have been sat upon and one from China which has been well worn. The owner of the old armchair, a factory owner in Dongguan, described her efforts at repair, with pride, as ‘her artwork.’ The other, yet to be sat upon looked nervous about the work it had ahead of it. Both chairs tell a complex story of the 21st making of ‘stuff’, one of repair and reuse and the other of manufacture in 2012. What chemicals are in the foam? How much energy went into the making of the chair and can it be recycled or reused? How many air miles will it travel or will it end up as a centre piece in a tiny flat in Hong Kong or in a hotel bedroom, bar or lobby? Does anyone care? How will Far East companies (and all ‘makers of things’) adapt to demands to make their products more sustainably in materials, processes, use of energy etc. if at all? The other part of the story is that it was made by a small company in a side street of many small companies. It’s great to see manufacturing & making still thriving somewhere–but for how long I am not sure.
Perhaps if we remake our objects as art they will avoid landfill?! A few years ago, I went to an exhibition at the Tate with Suzy and the kids. There was an artwork made of all the things you would find on a rubbish tip, plastic bottles, tins, bits of old car etc. One of the children asked Suzy why there was a load of rubbish in the gallery and Suzy made two art-studenty blokes laugh loudly when she explained, ‘once it was rubbish and now it is Art.’
Also if we put more ‘art’ into the making of objects, perhaps people will value their furniture, lampshades, and sofas beyond just their function– a combination of both being the ideal.
(On the subject of sofas, Le Corbusier said that ‘chairs are architecture but sofas are bourgeois’!)
I am going to make large prints of these and make it ‘my artwork’
